Vorlon Trouble
by Lozzimal
Summary: Garibaldi causes trouble for the Vorlons.
1. Chapter 1

Lennier panicked. He had no idea what to do now. When he had rushed into the room where Delenn and Sheridan were he had thought to rescue them both and get them out of there. He had been shocked then, when Delenn had told him to leave, that he should forget that they were there.

But he couldn't. He loved Delenn, he respected her, he liked looking after her. He could not leave her in that dungeon being tortured by some human, even if he was working for the Vorlons. Sheridan neither.

He could not disobey Setae Delenn, however much he wanted to. But he could not leave her there either. He managed to get his mind into some sort of order and tried to think of someone, anyone, who would not care about any silly orders by the Ambassador, someone who would just get both Sheridan and Delenn out of that dangerous situation.

Think

Think

Think

Think

Think

Think

Security Chief Michael Garibaldi.

He, as he had said to the attaché, did not give a 'rat's ass' whatever that was, about authority or anyone who wanted him or his people to do things that were completely stupid. He was perfect.

Decided Lennier jogged out of the area, making sure he made a mental note of what section he was in and went to find the Chief.

Michael Garibaldi, grumpy, short-tempered, generous, with a big squidgy heart, glared at the woman in front of him trying not to strangle her with his own hands. "Did I, or did I not, tell you to get this one filed?" he asked the squirming young woman in front of him.

She nodded. "Y…yes Sir." she stammered quietly. "I tried but the … he … the perp…"

Michael tried not to smile at her troubles. "Don't call me 'Sir'." he told her in his most calming voice. "Chief is fine. And don't let the perps take control either. That's what you're here for. All right?"

She started to nod, but then looked up at the Chief. "He's a Centauri." she told him. "He thinks I'm your slave. He won't talk to me. I can't even get him to fill out the forms."

Michael sighed and sat down on the side of his desk to look at her. "That complicates matters." he responded. Centauri men were really misogynistic, especially when it came to human females. "But I don't want to interfere because he won't ever think any more about women if I do." he said to her aloud. "What do you think we should do?"

Getting a little more confidence with his tone and that he was asking her opinion, the security guard in front of him smiled. "We could always castrate him." she commented with an evil little chuckle.

Michael grinned. "That's more like it." he replied, amused. "That's the attitude you need to go in with. He either fills in the forms and leaves, or you'll castrate him and put him in the brig with a Pak'Morah." he added.

The guard laughed too, and nodded, and was going to say something else but was interrupted by a Mimbari running into the office at full speed, with another security guard on his heels.

"Chief!" the running guard yelled as a warning, and both Michael and the young woman pulled out and primed their PPGs in an instant. Garibaldi was a bit surprised when he was pushed out of the way by the woman, who then stood in front of him to protect him from the intruder. She had a very strong stance, PPG held tightly in both hands, aimed straight at the intruder's chest, in a very steady grip. "Stop where you are!" she bellowed in a voice that made even Michael jump.

The Mimbari did as he was told and looked up, and the Chief sighed when he recognised him. "Lennier." he said to the attaché. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to find you." he commented as he looked at the guns aimed at him. "I need your help."

Michael moved round his protector and laid a hand on one of her arms to signal it was okay. "Thanks Gail." he said to her as she relaxed. "I think this one I'll have to deal with."

She nodded and smiled at him. "I'll go deal with the Centauri." she answered, and glared at Lennier when she walked past him.

Michael shook his head in disbelief as she walked out of his office. Her demeanour had changed completely from when she had walked in, to now when she was walking out. Maybe action was better for her than paperwork, he thought to himself as he looked back at Lennier, something he could understand.

"What help?" he asked the newcomer. "What's wrong?"

Lennier walked over to him, not seeming any worse for wear from his full scale sprint across almost have to station. "Delenn is in trouble." he told him and took a firm hold of his arm. "She won't let me help, but I can't leave her where she is. He's hurting her."

Michael frowned at him and looked over his head at Lou Welch, the guard who had followed him in. "Lou, see if you can find Ambassador Delenn." he ordered. "Oz should be able to find her."

Lou nodded and walked out of the office, leaving the two of them together.

"Who's hurting her?" Michael asked Lennier quickly. He pulled away from him and went quickly back to his desk, pressing his hand onto a lock on the top. He murmured a word into it when the voice asked him for a password, but the Mimbari couldn't make out what he had said. He didn't care either.

"Someone Ambassador Kosh brought on board." he told him quickly as he watched a drawer from the desk open. "I don't know who he is. I think he's human."

Michael pulled out his favourite weapon, a Colt semi automatic that had been given to him by someone he cared very much about. It wasn't the usual gun a security guard would carry, this one used bullets instead of energy, but these had the propellant included in the bullet, which gave them a longer range and higher power than most PPGs and other projectile weapons. It fit into his hand as if it had been specially made for him, and he smiled a little grimly at it. He also grabbed a handful of spare clips, just to make sure he had enough ammunition to cope with whatever the Ambassador had gotten herself into this time. "What does he want?" he asked Lennier as he turned back to face him.

Lennier shrugged. "I don't know." he told him, almost desperate. "I saw her in the middle of a room, she was on her knees, bleeding. He was hurting her!" he almost yelled at him. "But she wouldn't let me help her!"

"Alright, Lennier." Michael said to him, trying to soothe his fragile nerves. "Was there anyone else there?"

"Er…" the young Mimbari said as he thought about it. "I think I heard Captain Sheridan there too." he told him after a few moments. "But I can't be sure."

Shit. That complicated matters the Chief thought to himself. "Okay." he said though, and walked out of the office to find Lou. As he had hoped his Sergeant was by one of the many computer stations around the reception of his office. He looked up when he heard his boss coming up behind him. "She's here." he said to him and pointed a white little blob on one of the schematics he had on the screen. "Oz is getting some odd readings from her."

Michael studied the plans for a moment, figuring out where she was. "Right in the middle of Deuce territory." he commented darkly. "Okay." he said firmly after another moment of thought. "Lou, rustle up a team and meet me there. Make sure everyone is in armour." he ordered quickly. "Lennier." he said to his friend as he faced him. "Stay here. We'll need you to make a statement."

The Mimbari was going to argue but Michael raised his hand and shook his head. "No arguments." he said to him firmly. "I can't deal with her and you at the same time. Stay here."

Without waiting for a reply he turned and jogged out of the office, ignoring Lou's shout yelling at him to wait for him.

The Sergeant swore to himself about idiot bosses, and then quickly got round to raising the squad he needed.

Michael ran to the nearest bank of elevators and commandeered the first one. He chucked out, literally, the two Narns that were in it, and simply overrode the controls with his all-access card and ordered it to the level he needed. The room Oz, his AI, had located was right in the middle of the most dangerous part of Down Below, what the hell the Mimbari Ambassador was doing down there was a question Michael really wanted the answer too. Especially since he had ordered some of his own people to go down there to get her out of trouble. It was a place where no security personnel could really go on their own, including him, but he really didn't care about that. This was his station, and the more people that knew about that, he better.

The elevator got him there in double quick time, and he jogged out of the car and turned left, ignoring the people around him. They, however, did not ignore him. He sprinted down the corridors, checking the people and places around him, and knew that he was being watched and followed. But he didn't really care – he had no time to deal with Deuce and his people, he had to deal with his own first.

He skidded to a halt outside the room Oz had indicated, noting, thankfully, that it was in a quieter area and there were no other people around. He stood outside the closed door, pulling out his Colt and flicking off the safety, and listened for a moment to what he could hear coming from inside.

He frowned at the voice he heard, he recognised it from somewhere, but it didn't belong to either of the two people he was concerned about. It was a strange accent with words being used that he had only read about, and he suddenly remembered where he had heard it. That arrogant Englishman that had come onto the station without the usual papers, and had caused him a headache with all his complaining while Michael forced him to complete them.

Double shit.

With a sigh Michael pulled out his all access card again and took a deep breath to steady himself before he moved. He waited until the voice started yelling, and then swiped his card.

As he had hoped the lock had not been jimmied from either the inside or out, so the door opened smoothly and quietly at his request. Three people were in the room as he slipped in, two on the floor – Delenn kneeling, the odd human standing. And John Sheridan seemed to be shackled to the wall in front of the pair of them.

It was odd though, Michael could not see anything binding him, neither could he see what was so obviously smacking him around. He had bruises on his face, he was reacting as if he was being slapped hard in the face, but there was no-one near enough to him to do that.

Unless it was because of that stick thing to odd human was holding, using as if he was attacking the Captain with it. It looked like the walking stick the guy had been holding tightly when he had walked onto the station, it had been the main problem when he had arrived. He had not allowed it to go through the scanners, Michael had had to physically remove it from him to put it through. Strangely though it had not come up as anything remotely like a weapon.

Until now.

With a sigh to himself Michael aimed his Colt at the glass ball on the head of the stick, thinking that that would probably be the heart of it's power, whatever that was.

He waited a moment until he had an unobstructed aim, and then gently squeezed the trigger.


	2. Chapter 2

The shots were deafening.

The noise echoed off the walls in the small room, causing three of the four occupants to react in shock.

Delenn and John turned to face him. John grinned, Delenn looked horrified and relieved at the same time.

Michael ignored them. He was more interested in the other guy.

He was staring at the stick in his hand, watching as if mesmerised as the glass ball at the top exploded and shattered into a million little pieces. The force of the two bullets smashing into them blasted them away from the human and towards the wall opposite him and Michael, luckily away from the other two in the room.

As soon as they hit the floor and wall, Sheridan was let go and slid to the floor, landing on his knees when his feet gave out.

And that seemed to shake the other human out of his stare. He turned to face Garibaldi, a furious expression on his face. "You!" he snapped.

Michael smiled at him, but it wasn't a friendly smile. "Told you I'd cause you trouble." he commented dryly. He looked at the other two people in the room and his smile changed to fond resignment when he noted John grinning at him. "Are you all right?" he asked the Captain. "What the hell is going on?"

"Something to do with the Vorlons." John replied as he struggled to stand. "I don't really…" he began, but was cut off by the other guy.

"It has everything to do with the Vorlons!" he snapped, and stepped closer to Michael. "And now you have ruined it!"

"Oh goody." the Chief said to him darkly, which made the little human see red. He leapt at Garibaldi with an animal-like cry, using the remains of his staff as a weapon.

Michael turned to face him at the noise, and only had time to raise his arm to protect himself as the little man tried to bring the staff down against the side of his head with as much force as he could muster. The Chief managed to deflect the blow somewhat, and bit back a curse. He was surprised at the speed of the little man as he used the staff again and directed the new blow to his abdomen.

He dodged, grabbed the staff with his hand as it came down, and used it's momentum to wrench it out of the guy's hand and throw him off balance as he went for him again.

A knife appeared in Jack's hand, a long, wicked blade that he thrust towards Garibaldi's belly, hoping to skewer him with it.

Michael dodged out of the way, but Jack was quicker than he had given him credit for. He bypassed the Chief's dodge and slashed him across the back.

Michael yelped in surprise and pain, and got angry. "You bastard!" he yelled at the annoying little pipsqueak and turned to face him. The Colt that he had not wanted to use on Jack was in his hand in an instant. Aimed at Jack's heart. "Drop the knife." he ordered tersely. "Now."

Jack glared at him in anger, trying to figure out whether he would actually pull the trigger or not. This hesitation pissed off Garibaldi and he adjusted his aim just a little. And fired.

Jack dropped the knife when he felt the bullet travel past his ear, close enough to ruffle his hair. "You'll pay for this, Garibaldi." he snarled in anger.

"Bite me." Michael snapped in reply, not changing his stance. "Kick the knife over here."

Jack did as he was told, but glared at the Chief in the hope that that would turn him in to stone. It didn't work, Michael placed a foot on the knife as it slithered to a stop by him. He didn't care that it was an antique blade, that it was at least three hundred years old, just that it had, and was still, causing a burning slash across his back. "Sheridan, get over here." he snapped an order to the Captain who had watched the quick fight. He had managed to get up and tried to go to help his friend but Delenn had grabbed him and stopped him. Now he managed to get out of her grip and jogged over to his bleeding friend.

"You all right?" the Captain asked him, concerned.

Michael didn't reply to that one. Instead he handed him a pair of manacles that he always kept with him. "Behind his back." he ordered him, and then activated his link. "Security. Where the hell is my team?"

"With you." Zack answered tersely. "What's going on?"

As he said it the door behind Michael opened and Lou forced his way. He took one look at the Chief's back, and took charge of the situation.

Later John stood with Delenn and found himself defending his friend and Chief of Security to the irate Mimbari.

"He should not have interfered!" she snapped angrily at him. "We had to go through that!"

John sighed. "That's easy for you to say." he retorted. "You weren't the one he was beating the crap out of."

Delenn growled in frustration, a sound she had not had to utter in a long time. "We had to show that man we were the right people for the war!" she shouted at him. "That's what he was doing."

John frowned at her. "Who cares whether Kosh thinks we're the right people or not? I'm not in this for the Vorlons, or you, Delenn. And neither is Michael. We're in this to stop the Shadows annihilating everything."

"I know!" Delenn snapped in reply. "But we cannot do it without the Vorlons!"

John hung his head and sighed again. "I can't be bothered to argue with you at the moment, Delenn." he answered her. "I'm going to find Michael."

With that he turned on his heel and walked out of the Ambassador's quarters, and headed to the nearest elevator. Ignoring her shouts that followed him down the corridor.

Garibaldi wasn't in a much better mood when the Captain found him in med lab. Neither was Doctor Stephen Franklin.

Michael was lying on one of the treatment beds in a room, on his stomach, while Stephen was trying to seal up his wound, and even though he was stripped to the waist he was still yelling at someone down his wrist link. "I don't care what anyone says!" he snapped to the unfortunate person on the other end of his ire. "That man is staying in the brig! He's a murdering, lying bas….!"

"Michael!" Stephen snapped as his patient moved and thumped the pillow he was on to emphasise his anger. "You keep moving like that I'll end up sealing your crack together!"

The Chief growled in frustration, a bit like Delenn had, and slumped against the bed, burying his face in the pillow underneath him. That meant that the string of curses that issued from his mouth were muffled and only the occasional one was discernable to the other two people in the room. Eventually he spat down his link to the unfortunate messenger. "If they want to talk about it send them to see me here!" he snapped. "Out."

John was trying not to laugh at Stephen's comments, and the Chief of Security in such a vulnerable position and obviously hating it.

The Chief was obviously not amused, and he looked up at Sheridan when he heard a chuckle escape from him. He glared at him in anger. "This is your fault." he snapped at him. "What were you doing down there? Trying to get yourself killed?"

John shook his head. "Not really." he commented, again trying not to laugh. "Delenn asked me to go there with her to meet someone."

"And you just went without finding out who it was, what they wanted, what the Ambassador wanted?" Michael asked him aridly.

John had the sense not to say anything about that, but just shook his head, and tried to change the subject. "How did you know where to find us?" he asked him instead.

Stephen laughed at that, and Michael turned as much as he could to look at him. "Beep beep." the doctor said to him with a grin.

Michael laughed and collapsed back into his pillow, chuckling to himself.

John just stared at them both and shook his head in resignment, not understanding their private joke. Instead he tried a different tactic. "Who were you yelling at?" he asked him conversationally. "What's going on now?"

Michael groaned quietly and sank back into the pillow again. "Your friends Ambassador Kosh and Sat…… Ambassador Delenn are at security station house." he said to him, his voice muffled. But not enough to hide the pause and change of title for Delenn.

John frowned but had the sense not to question him at the moment. "What did they want?" he asked him instead.

"Jack." Michael snapped. "Apparently they've been threatening my people with various nasty things if they don't let him go."

John frowned. "They can't do that." he commented darkly.

"I know that." Michael answered him aridly. "Stephen knows that. But it seems the honourable Ambassadors don't."

Stephen looked up from his work at the mention of his name. "You haven't told them to come here, have you?" he asked him incredulously. "This is not an arena for your arguments. I have to spend most of my time cleaning up after them anyway."

Michael tried to shift a bit to get more comfortable. "Have not." he replied sulkily.

"Have so." Stephen commented with a grin.

"Not."

"So."

"Not."

"So."

"Not."

"S…"

"Oh my Gods!" John interrupted their little spat. He threw his hands up in the air and glared at them both. "How old are you two?" he asked them. "Do you argue all the time like this?"

Stephen looked up at him and smiled. "We never argue." he told him with his most innocent expression. "Do we, Mike?"

"Never." Michael agreed. "And don't call me 'Mike'. Are you finished yet?"

John was amazed at the ease of their friendship. Neither of them seemed to be concerned that the Ambassadors of two of the most powerful planets around were pissed at the Security Chief. And that he had spent some time here being fixed after a fight with one of the representatives.

"Do you care that you might be in major trouble, Chief?" the Captain asked him with a frown.

Michael looked at him as he sat up on the bed. "Not really." he replied. "You're the one responsible for my actions, after all. Captain." he added, emphasising the title. "Isn't that what you told me?" he asked him snidely.

John sighed. When he had said that he knew it would jump up and bite him in the ass at one time or another, he had just hoped it wouldn't when two Ambassadors were on the warpath.

"How much do I owe you?" Michael asked the doctor as he worked his broad shoulders.

"Dinner." the doctor replied as he put his things away. "And don't get into any more trouble before seven pm tonight. I don't want to have to patch you up twice in one day."

Michael shrugged into his shirt and looked over at John. "I think that's going to be up to the Captain." he told him with a smile. "If I get left alone with Delenn on the warpath you might need to crack open a stasis pod for me."

Stephen grinned and shook his head and watched fondly as Michael grabbed John by the arm and lead him out of the room, no doubt to give him another grilling about what had happened. He heard: "see you at seven!" float back at him, and then continued with what he was doing.

As soon as they were out of earshot of any one else Michael turned back to the Captain. "I need to know everything that was said to you." he said to him firmly. "Especially if I'm going to get the Vorlons on my back because of this. What happened?"

John sighed and started from the beginning again. His sorry tail ended only when they got to the main security station house. They stopped outside of the main entrance and the Chief took a moment to listen to what was going on inside. Arguing voices were easily heard, and he sighed and closed his eyes for a long moment before going in.

John decided to take the easy way out – in the other direction.


	3. Chapter 3

Michael took a deep breath before he entered the main station house, and looked around him as he stepped inside.

It was the main area that Security used in the station, and it was the biggest of the seven areas that they had. Here was the main offices, where his office was, the main reception area where people's calls came in and where dealt with, including emergency ones. And also where people that had been arrested were brought, processed, recorded, and in some cases imprisoned. The brig was on the floor below where he had walked in, and his own office and other rooms were on the floor above him.

In front of him was a large reception area, including a long desk, where five people were behind, dealing with a large group of people in front, all clambering for their attention. As Pietre, a small man of Thai origin was yelling loudly to the person behind the Pak'mo'rah he was dealing with, they could only help one person at a time and were doing the best they could.

To one side of the counter Lou Welch was standing with two people who were instantly recognisable. Ambassadors Kosh and Delenn were trying to force their way past him, to where Michael could only guess at but probably included the brig and his office.

He didn't think Lou would ever forgive him if he ignored them and left him in the lurch, so he made his way over to them, trying not to get noticed by everyone else. "Can I help, Sergeant?" he asked him diffidently.

As soon as he had said the words all three of them turned on him. Lou looked at him with a relieved expression, and mouthed: "thanks" at him. Delenn was still fuming, and Kosh seemed to just loom over him in his encounter suit.

Lou was going to talk to him, to say something to him, but Delenn blundered in. "We need to speak to you, now!" she snapped, causing a lot of people around to look up at them.

"Well, I'm here now, Ambassador. Shall we go into my office?" he asked her politely.  
She had been expecting an argument from him, not that, and she was a little deflated at that. "Of course." she agreed rather that yelling the practiced lines at him.

"Okay." he agreed and turned to Ambassador Kosh. "Shall we?" he asked him too.

Kosh nodded once fell into step behind Delenn as Michael prepared to take them to his own little sanctuary. On the way he looked at Lou. "Can you get someone to bring me a sweater?" he asked him with a wry shrug of his back. "I seem to have ripped my shirt somewhere."

Lou nodded and tried not to smile as the trio walked away from him. He didn't envy his friend and boss' position, but knew the Chief well enough to know he would get out of it somehow.

Michael led the two Ambassadors to his office on the floor above the reception area and used his ID card to gain entrance. He didn't normally lock his door, he trusted his people and he didn't leave anything of value there anyway. He stood and waited for the other two to walk in first, and was very tempted to shut the door, lock them in and go off in the other direction, a lot like the Captain had done to him. But he didn't, he walked in after them and let the door shut them in.

"Please sit, Ambassadors." he invited them into the comfortable chairs that were arranged in front of his large, granite desk that dominated the room. Only Delenn took up his invitation, Kosh stood behind her and loomed over them both, obviously trying to intimidate the Chief.

Michael ignored it and walked over to his own chair and sat down behind the desk. "So, what can I do for you, Ambassadors?" he asked them both politely.

"You can release my human." Kosh said to him forcefully.

"I cannot do that." Michael answered him as forcefully. "He is under arrest for several reasons. Not least kidnapping Ambassador Delenn."

"He did not kidnap me!" Delenn snapped at him in anger. "I was there by choice."

Michael frowned at her. "So then you persuaded Captain Sheridan to go there?" he asked her thoughtfully.

Delenn nodded before she thought about it. "I asked him to come." she told him. "We needed him to be there."

"Hmm." the Chief commented as he mused that. "Did you tell him what was going to happen?" he asked her curiously.

"No." Delenn snapped at him. "He did not need to know!"

Michael raised one eyebrow at her. "So you got him there under false pretences, knowing that he was going to be assaulted." he stated to clarify the situation.

Kosh opened up to speak, but Delenn got there first. "Yes." she agreed. "And you stopped what was necessary."

Michael shook his head. "I stopped a crime in progress." he commented to her. "You have admitted to me that you were involved in this, and that is called 'conspiracy'. That is a criminal offence, and you could be imprisoned for it." He looked up at Kosh when the Vorlon tried to loom over him in a threatening manner. "You are also implicated in a criminal offence, Ambassador Kosh." he commented darkly. "So don't try to threaten me."

Kosh leant back and opened up to speak. "The child bites with blunt teeth." he commented sagely.

Michael sighed. "I'm not stupid, Kosh." he said firmly. "I'm not a child, and I do have teeth."

"But we have diplomatic immunity." Delenn added, almost in desperation. She had not thought the Chief of Security could do anything about this, but he had changed her mind quickly. "You cannot…"

Michael turned to face her and "You do, you're right." he told her. "But attacking a member of Earthforce is considered an act of war, Ambassador." he snapped. "You do not have immunity from that."

Delenn sat back in her chair and stared at him in shock, and even Kosh was silent for a few moments. "You do not have that authority!" the Mimbari shouted at him, leaping to her feet.

Michael looked up at her. "My responsibility is the security of this station, and the people, humans and aliens, in it." he told her firmly. "Your actions today not only threatened the security of this station, it also threatened the life of the Captain of this station." He looked at her and tilted his head in curiosity. "Would you have cared if he had been killed?" he asked her. "Or yourself?"

She shook her head. "No." she answered him and sat back down again. "That would mean that he and I were not the right people."

Michael's frown deepened and he looked up at Kosh. As inscrutable as always the Vorlon said nothing, just watched the proceedings. "So, you would sacrifice yourself and others because the Vorlons said so?" he asked her incredulously. "And you decided that Sheridan didn't need to know, that he wasn't able to make that choice by himself."

When neither of them replied he sighed and stood. "I will be in contact with my government about this." he told them both. "I will let you know what they suggest."

"That is not a good idea." Delenn told him as she stood too. "Earthgov should not be involved."

"I'll take that into consideration Setae Delenn." he responded, using her proper title. By mistake.

She stiffened and glared at him, but before she could say anything Kosh ushered her out of the office. Kosh didn't move. "You should beware." the Ambassador told him softly. "You should not interfere with things that do not concern you."

Michael smiled a little at him. "That is the first time you've not spoken in riddles." he commented.

Kosh leant forward, trying to loom over him, but Michael did not back up. "This is too important for that." he told him grimly. "I need to know whether they are the right people."

"You could have asked." the Chief retorted. "But why do you need them, everyone else, to fight your battles? I don't know how you got the Mimbari to do whatever you tell them to, but why do you think that you can do that to us too?" He was confused, and a little annoyed. He had enough people trying to do that with him, let alone another race trying to do that to the whole human race.

"The Vorlons are not alone in using inferior races." Kosh told him. "Beware Mister Garibaldi. There are other forces in this universe at work."

"I know." Michael answered him with a resigned sigh. "And now I suppose you're going to tell me to mind my own business and keep being an obedient pet human, just like the rest of us."

Kosh was a little surprised at his forthright comments but he was safe inside his suit so he could hide his expressions from the human in front of him. He had previously disregarded Garibaldi as a simple inferior being who would do as he was told, whatever he was told. But now he realised that was not the case. He felt some amusement that he had been taken in by a human of all creatures, and a little concern about how much this one knew. Even Sheridan did not know about Delenn's position on Mimbar. "I will tell you this:" he began after a moment of thought. "The Mimbari do not take kindly to other races knowing their business. I know how I will react to this; I do not know how Delenn will react however."

Michael smiled at him. "So you're telling me to watch my back." he commented dryly.

"Yes." Kosh agreed, and turned away towards the office door. "I have underestimated you, Mister Garibaldi." he said as the door opened for him. "You will know my response soon enough." With that he swept out of the office and seemed to glide out of the main security offices.

Zack and Lou watched him go and then turned back to their Chief. "Well?" Zack demanded as he walked over. "Delenn stormed out, absolutely fuming."

Michael sighed again and leant against him for a moment. "You might be getting that promotion quicker than you think." he told him with a grim smile. With that he walked out of the area and went to find a missing Captain.

* * *

Lennier was upset and angry about what he had overheard. The Ambassador was very angry, not only at Garibaldi, but also at the person who had told him what was going on. He had kept silent at that, it was obvious that Michael had protected his identity, and he was not going to change that. Unless of course she asked him directly, and then he could not lie to her.

But it was the orders she was giving another Mimbari that worried him. She was obviously trying to arrange an attack on a human, not to kill that human, but to make sure he didn't interfere in anything else Mimbari again. She didn't mention names, that Lennier could hear, and he could not get into her private sleeping room where she was either calling from, or speaking to the person to, so he could not see who it was she was speaking too, or whether she was showing this person a holo of her intended victim.

Lennier was not stupid – he had not got to where he was today by being useless, but he was loyal to Delenn.

She was putting him in a difficult situation.

Again.

Twice in one day.

Not good.

And what could he do about it?

This morning he could deal with it since the Ambassador's safety was at risk, but now she was intending to put someone else's safety at risk, which she probably thought was good for Mimbar and all Mimbari.

But the Chief was a good man, and his friend. And if, as he thought, that the intended victim was the Chief himself, he could not let him walk into something he might not be able to get out of.

Because of something the attaché had done in the first place.

He whispered a word that he had heard Michael use himself when he had found a problem with the motorbike: damn.

* * *

Captain Sheridan looked up from his pile of paperwork when he heard the door to his office open and didn't know whether to smile at Michael as he entered or cringe away from him. The Chief smiled a little when he saw that as he walked over to the desk and sat down in the chair in front of it. "If you wanted to be beaten to crap today, you could have just asked me." he told him as he moved the chair back enough so that he could rest his feet on the desk. "I could do that for you without a problem. You don't need to go and get the crap beaten out of you by a pair of Vorlon pets."

John frowned a little at his terminology, but decided to get the main thing out first. "I'm sorry I left you to it." he apologised quickly. "I didn't really know how to deal with it."

Michael sighed. "Me neither." he replied. "I just told them that if it were up to me I'd charge them with a lot of things and put them both in the brig."

John snickered with laughter. "I bet they loved that." he commented dryly. "A lot."

Michael chuckled and nodded. "I actually got a decent amount of conversation out of Kosh." he told him. "He didn't talk in riddles for all of the time."

John frowned a little. "Huh." he harrumphed. "What makes you so special?"

Michael grinned and stood up again and turned round slowly in a 360o circle. "I didn't get where I am just because of my brain and that I slept with the boss." he commented impishly.

John laughed and then studied him for a moment. "Slept with the boss, huh?" he asked him archly. "Do you do that in all your jobs?"

Michael looked him up and down and gave him a wicked smile. "Most jobs." he said to him, amused. "But I need to be persuaded. Give me ninety percent of your salary for a year and I'll consider it."

John laughed at him. "I'm not that desperate!" he told him, and threw a balled up piece of paper at him.

Michael dodged it easily and studied him for a moment too. "Neither am I." he commented, amused. "I don't need the money that much."

Delenn, outside, was just about to press the door chime on Sheridan's office and was surprised therefore when the door opened and Michael came running out the of the office, laughing, being chased by another balled up piece of paper. He almost ran into her, but noticed her at the last moment and stopped. "Ambassador." He greeted her with a smile.

Despite herself she had to smile back at his expression. "Mister Garibaldi." she replied. "I see the Captain is in good spirits."

Michael nodded. "I think he likes to throw his paperwork around." He told her conspiratorially. "So he doesn't do it."

"I heard that!" John yelled out of the still open door. "And it's true."


End file.
